Our monthly updates provide information and resources for early years practitioners to support communication, language and literacy developments.

July 2024

This month our Come Talk with Me Top Tip is:

"Take turns to talk. Give your child time to think and respond – this will help to build their confidence and give them a chance to think about the words they want to use”

Taking turns in play is a good way to support children’s communication and language as a precursor to early conversation skills. This clip from Tiny Happy People has practical examples and ideas of early turn taking games.

When talking with children don’t forget the 10 second rule! This means waiting at least 10 seconds for a child to respond.

Come Talk with Me Time to Talk Online Activity Packs.

You can promote these new Come Talk with Me online resources to parents.

The packs are designed with children aged two to three years old in mind. They give a range of fun activity ideas, songs and stories with ideas on making them language rich learning opportunities.

If parents spend just five minutes a day, playing and talking with their child we know this can make a difference to their child’s understanding, talking and learning.

Titles available are:

• Minibeast hunt: activity pack 1
• Animals: activity pack 2
• Family and friends: activity pack 3
• At the park: activity pack 4
• You and me: activity pack 5
• Transport: activity pack 6

National Literacy Trust

If you missed National Writing Day last month, don’t’ worry the National Literacy Trust Newsletter includes fun activities, songs and rhymes to help you spot light early writing skills in your setting and share with parents.

National Literacy Trust have also developed brand new Chat, play, read booklets, which are free to download from the Words for Life website. They’re filled with fun and simple activities that can be completed anywhere, anytime! Each one will support your child to learn new words and develop their language and communication skills. To support bilingual learners these are available in English and an additional 18 languages, in a print version and voice recording.

June 2024

Our June Come Talk with me Top Tip is:

“Praise your child’s attempts to say new words. Repeat words back to them in the correct way, without mentioning mistakes – this will help them to learn the right way to say a new word.”

Children love experimenting with new sounds as their spoken language develops and will naturally copy what they hear. As children mature, they will usually develop the full range of sounds when supported within nurturing interactions.

For more information about children’s sound develop please see the Christchurch and Bournemouth East Paediatric Speech and Language Therapy Services Children's Speech Sounds guide.

Words for life activity

Play with letters and numbers - There are all sorts of games you can play with letters and numbers, from their shape and sound, to learning new words that share the same first letter. It will help get your child ready for reading when they’re older.

Top 10 starting school books

Books to help prepare children for school One of the best ways to support children with changes they may face is through books. Reading stories with children helps to reassure them that things will be ok and helps to open up conversations about how they are feeling.

May 2024

Our May Come Talk with Me Top Tip is:

“Sing the same song and tell the same story again and again – this will help your child to recognise patterns in language”.

Consider having a core set of traditional stories or songs which can be repeated with all children. These can be shared with your families, link settings or primary schools to help build language confidence for children during transitions.

National Literacy Trust Newsletter

Spring-time chatter is the latest newsletter from the National Literacy Trust. It provides a roundup of Spring inspired activities and ideas to promote children’s communication and language in the setting and at home.

Speech, Language and Communication Early Years Summit

Igniting Potential: The Best of the Early Years Summit on Speech, Language and Communication. Sign up to watch some of the best speakers from 4 years of the Early Years Speech, language, and Communication Early Years Summit through Early years TV. Free all week from Monday 27th May to Sunday 5th June 2024.